150+ pages of lesson plans, resources, and discussion guides to help educators explore the themes presented in the film Hineini with youth and young adults.

While the primary focus of the film Hineini is the experience of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Jews in Jewish schools, the film lends itself to addressing broader issues about Jewish identity in a contemporary context.

The Hineini Curriculum Resource Guide provides materials that facilitate the use of the documentary in diverse Jewish educational settings. It gives Jewish educators and program staff resources to integrate the study of GLBT issues into programs and curricula and to explore timely issues including:

Sexual orientation and gender identity in a Jewish context

Jewish pluralism

Identity and difference

Youth activism

Social change and community building

Who Should Use this Film?

Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School and the Curriculum Guide are useful resources for sparking dialogue in a wide range of settings, both formal and informal, including:

Congregations

Family and teen programs

Middle and high school education programs

Youth groups

Educator, lay leader, and clergy continuing education programs

Jewish Day Schools (Middle and High School)

Professional development for educators and administrators

As part of curricula for Contemporary Jewish Studies, Jewish text study, or Social Studies

Anti-bullying or diversity programs for students

Gay-Straight Alliance programs

Community Hebrew High Schools

Faculty and staff development programs

Middle and high school curricula

Parent-teen programs

Other Jewish Institutions

Summer camps – for staff, campers, and families

Jewish Community Centers for community dialogue

Jewish Family & Children’s Service and other social service organizations, for staff training

Universities and Colleges

GLBT and Jewish student centers
Campus-wide diversity programs

GLBT Studies

Jewish Studies

Religion Studies

Gender Studies

Other Educational and Community Organizations

Public and private school GSA’s and student groups

Other religious community groups

Interfaith community groups

Just know you’ve already made a difference. A 10th grader came out to me yesterday (she didn’t know about the film yet), and I said, ‘Mazel Tov,’ since I had seen that in your film. She said she was really happy about the conversation. So thanks for counseling me – through your movie – about how to handle it. I have a feeling she’s going to help us move forward on this – she’s a very strong kid.
– Rabbi at a Solomon Schechter Day School, NY

I found the curriculum amazing – including topics and connections to Judaism that would never have occurred to me!
– Rabbi Carol Stein, High School of Jewish Studies, Agency for Jewish Education, San Diego, CA

I love the Curriculum Guide because I think that the best way for kids to learn is to make them a little uncomfortable. The materials were student-centered, and I really feel that my students gained a certain maturity through doing this unit. They began to understand that these halakhic questions and perspectives on gender and on sexual orientation had real implications for gay and lesbian and transgender Jews.
– Jill Weinberg, Judaic Studies Department Head, Maimonides Upper School San Diego Jewish Academy, San Diego, CA